CDCR Cell Phone Blocking Antennas

[GrumpyGuard]

I'm not going to waste anyones time with whether or not Corrections needs this technology. What I am going to point out is that California is flouting Federal law by employing these jammers. And before I get another "it's for the children/public safety/peace in our time" hogwash, it is against Federal law to employ ANY sort of jamming, except, and I'm quoting from the FCC whitepaper, "There is a very narrow exception. In limited circumstances, the sale of signal jammers for use by authorized federal agencies may be permitted. See 47 U.S.C. § 302a(c); 47 C.F.R. § 2.807(d)."

California/WTFever Corrections is not Federal, therefore, illegal in this context.

EDIT: After a bit more poking around, it seems Global Tel is operating some sort of rogue BTS, and not just blindly jamming, so my bad. However, this introduces a host of licensing/operational issues. I don't GSM/LTE much, so I could care less, but this strikes me as a bad idea all around.

You might want to do some more poking around as the FCC is allowing this technology. Here is the link to the FCC paper Putting an end to illegal cell phone use in prison Hope this helps you understand what they are doing. Also you should read the links provided by KMA371 and they will give you more information. You should also look at SB 26 as this is what gives the CDCR the ability to use the managed access for cell phones.

 

[jrholm]

And it is illegal for ANYONE to have a cell phone within the confines of a jail/prison in California.

 

[aquaregia]

Sigh.

Um, okay. As I said in my update, they are running a rogue BTS. Big deal. So can I for not too much money. Check out OsmoBTS

That being said, what's next? Banning crystal radio sets? This is more a failure of administration (nothing new there) than some conglomerate who seems to have a lock on prisoner phone privileges.

BTW, with most cell phones, you're free to choose what tower/provider you connect to, so forget notch filter, your phone already has it.

 

[radioman2001]

Same in NY State, no employee is allowed a cell phone or ANY cell phone or any device that connects to a network, such as a Nook book. A better plan would be to install a cell site within the prison that could be monitored to determine who has the device, and for intel purposes.

 

[kma371]

And it is illegal for ANYONE to have a cell phone within the confines of a jail/prison in California.

Not true at all.

 

[kma371]

A better plan would be to install a cell site within the prison that could be monitored to determine who has the device, and for intel purposes.

That's what they are doing. They created their own network and allow only legit phones to contact the outside real network.

 

[radioman2001]

So everyone is mistaken, it's not jamming just a controlled cell site.

 

[kma371]

So everyone is mistaken, it's not jamming just a controlled cell site.

Yup. Read post 14, 15 and 20 which have links that explain the technology

 

[scottyhetzel]

You would think that someone could come out with RF leak detector (scanning oscillator ) and the guards could scan inmates or cells to find electronic devices.

 

[kma371]

You would think that someone could come out with RF leak detector (scanning oscillator ) and the guards could scan inmates or cells to find electronic devices.

They are actually smart enough to only turn them on when they need them

 

[GrumpyGuard]

They are actually smart enough to only turn them on when they need them

Not all of them

 

[kma371]

Not all of them

Haha

 

[aquaregia]

Sigh.

Just because a rogue BTS created by corrections has more dB does not mean my IMEI has to connect to it. That's like saying, oh, we will override your squelch setting. Pretty obvious that this thread has zero a) technical b) practical with a bonus of LE sycophants.

 

[WayneH]

Just because a rogue BTS created by corrections has more dB does not mean my IMEI has to connect to it. That's like saying, oh, we will override your squelch setting. Pretty obvious that this thread has zero a) technical b) practical with a bonus of LE sycophants.

You aren't much of a people person are you? Link related

 

[aquaregia]

How to win friends and influence people

No. If I was a vendor trying to blow smoke up a client's ***, fine. This is worse than a Band-Aid, this is fraud.

 

[GrumpyGuard]

Just because a rogue BTS created by corrections has more dB does not mean my IMEI has to connect to it. That's like saying, oh, we will override your squelch setting. Pretty obvious that this thread has zero a) technical b) practical with a bonus of LE sycophants.

I don't understand why you keep calling this a rouge BTS. This is a legally sanctioned Access Management System. For someone to be this adamant you either communicate with someone in prison and are mad that the CDCR is taking this away from you or you may be incarcerated and will no longer be able to conduct business with out your phone.

What exactly is the point you are attempting to get across to everyone? Your last sentence makes no sense, as it is incomplete. So please elaborate,

Pretty obvious that this thread has zero a) technical b) practical with a bonus of LE sycophants

I for one do not understand the practical with a bonus of LE sycophants as this means from Greek "False Accuser" and in modern English "An Insincere Flatterer". Who is the CDCR falsely accusing or flattering insincerely?

 

[mkewman]

I smell a locked thread because this one went WAY off the rails.

 

[emt_531]

Wow, I never imagined this thread would go sideways. I was just curious as to the technology behind it. Obviously people who are against it have something to lose.

 

[phillydjdan]

I will comment on the on-topic parts of this thread here. My other views will be on the other thread...

Ok, so let me get this straight. This company, Global Tel-Link is installing this restrictive system, then ALSO running the inmate phone system? Has anyone here ever used Global Tel-Link? I have. A good friend of mine spent a couple of months in the joint, and his only way to communicate with his family and I was through the inmate phone system run by (you guessed it) Global Tel-Link. Any idea how much a local phone call cost? Try upwards of $1 per minute. A 10 minute call to the next town over costs $10. At the same time, companies out there are offering international calling to anywhere in the world for 1 cent per minute. 99 times cheaper for me to call Italy right now. And nobody sees a problem there? I'm not on either side, inmate or officer. You screw up, you do time, it's your fault. But, to make them (or more appropriately their friends and family) pay outrageous amounts of money just to talk to their mother is absolutely ridiculous! No wonder the inmates are stuffing Androids up their rears, it's cheaper! But alas, the government in it's infinite wisdom will allow this to happen, and nobody will care. Why? It's only a few lousy scumbag inmates!

 

[emt_531]

You do realize that The FCC just placed a limit on what these companies can charge for phone calls dont you?

FCC votes to cap, slash prison phone rates